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Smoking is a leading cause of preventable diseases and death world-wide and within New Zealand. Despite overall declines, particularly young adults and Maori (the indigenous population of New Zealand) continue to have high rates of smoking. Research suggests that Internet- and Mobile phone-based interventions are effective to achieve cessation of smoking however the effects are short-term. The purpose of this Meta-Analysis was to pool together evidence regarding the effectiveness of Internet-and Mobile phone-based interventions to achieve longer-term cessation of smoking among adolescent and adult smokers. The analysis was based on the assessment and pooling of Randomized Controlled Trials and reported outcomes at six months or longer. This analysis was based on English Language articles published in the previous ten years (2004-2014) whose comparison group received either any other intervention or an intervention inclusive of but not limited to Internet-and Mobile phone-based interventions delivered at a lower frequency. Both a Fixed-Effects and a Random-Effects Meta-Analysis between all studies were conducted to assess the length of abstinence. Moreover the individual studies were grouped using an outcome theme and five subgroup analyses were conducted.
Findings from both, the Fixed-Effects and Random-Effects Meta-Analysis suggest great heterogeneity among the studies. Overall findings suggest that Internet-and Mobile phone-based interventions used in smoking cessation are effective in achieving longer-term cessation of smoking (pooled OR= 1.13, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.20). Findings from the subgroup analyses suggest that both Internet-and Mobile phone-based interventions combined with an additional intervention inclusive of Nicotine Replacement Therapy are most effective in achieving longer-term cessation of smoking among adolescent and adult smokers. These findings suggest that Internet-and Mobile phone-based interventions alone are not sufficient to achieve longer-term smoking cessation among chronic smokers and that additional interventions are needed to achieve longer-term smoking cessation.